Cameron won’t join election TV debates if Greens not included after Ofcom ruling

Leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett (Image from nataliebennett.co.uk)

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett says she is “deeply disappointed” after her emerging party’s effort to secure a place in the upcoming live TV election debates was dealt a blow by Britain’s media regulator.

As part of an ongoing consultation, Ofcom said on Thursday the
Green Party doesn’t have enough support to qualify for the
“major parties” list. By contrast, it said the
Euroskeptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) has demonstrated a
greater degree of support.

The list, compiled by Ofcom, governs the amount of coverage
broadcasters are obliged to offer parties in advance of the
general election. It currently consists of the Conservative
Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party.

Bennett said the media regulator’s decision to exclude the Greens
from the list was “disgraceful and indefensible.” She
added the ruling risked doing grave damage to British democracy.

Prime Minister David Cameron waded into the controversy by saying
he will not take part in
the planned debates unless the Green Party are also included, the
BBC reports.

Cameron also said he
was"quite happy
for there to be no debates at all" during the campaign, claims
BBC political editor Nick Robinson.

The move greatly compromises the Greens ongoing legal challenge
to be included in Britain’s televised election debates. The party
must make their case in early February, after which a final
decision on the line-up will be announced in early March.

The BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4 previously announced their
decision to offer UKIP a place in the debates, but not the
Greens. The controversial move prompted Bennett to launch the
legal challenge.

Ofcom said debate participants must be decided by the
broadcasters themselves. But its controversial ruling will enable
Britain's leading broadcasters to adhere to their original stance
of boycotting the Greens.

In its consultation, Ofcom said its decision to exclude the
Greens from the major parties list could affect both electoral
broadcasts and the degree of editorial focus each party is
afforded throughout the campaign race.

Ofcom claimed the Greens had failed to secure “sufficient
support in previous elections and current opinion polls to be
added to Ofcom’s major party list for the purposes of the May
2015 elections.”

Incensed by the decision, Bennett said the media regulator was
rooted firmly in the past and had failed to grapple with the
changing face of UK politics. The Green Party leader added that
Ofcom’s ruling dismissed the views of the nation’s younger
voters.

In the case of UKIP, Ofcom said Nigel Farage’s party had not
shown “significant electoral support” in former general
elections. In 2010, the party only achieved 3.5 percent of the
vote.

Nevertheless, Ofcom claimed UKIP had performed stronger in other
regards, demonstrating notable support in local by-elections
recently, in the 2014 European Elections and in English local
elections in 2013 and 2014

The media regulator's ongoing consultation will come to a close
on February 5. At present, it’s unclear whether UKIP or the
Greens will manage to secure a place in the televised election
debates.

Those included on the list will be offered a minimum of two
official election broadcasts prior to May 15.

Earlier this week, frontbench Labour MP Sadiq Khan joined those
calling for the Greens to be included in the TV debates.

“What the British public deserve to see is all the leaders,
and that includes Natalie Bennett, by the way, having a debate
about their vision for the country, their analysis of the last
five years, [and] an explanation from Cameron and Clegg on how
the deficit is still £200 billion more than they predicted,”
he told the New Statesman.